"A fun game, albiet a clone of another"

First things first; If you've played Joust, you've also pretty much played Balloon Fight. Just instead of knights on ostrich like birds, you're a bunch of guys on Balloons flying around. There is one new mode though, that's actually pretty fun, but I'll get into that later on in my review.

Graphics:

Your basic early NES fare. You'll either love them or hate them. Personally, I think the simple, colorful graphics of this game are decent despite their age, but nothing really special compared to other games of it's time. Then again, if you're playing Balloon Fight, it's probably not for the graphics, so I'll move along.

Sound:

Once again, typical early NES fare. All the bleeps and bloops you've come to expect, and nothing overly special. As for the music, it's practically non-existant. If I recall correctly, the only song you'll be hearing is when you start up one of the game's 3 modes, which is a very breif and very crappy little tune that's not exactly something to write home about. Simply put, sound isn't one of the finer points of this game, but it's forgivable.

Control:

The controls are good enough to get by, I suppose, but they can be kind of loose, just like in Joust. It's really annoying when you're moving in for a kill and you glide right over a guy because of this game's control. And don't get me started on the trouble it will give you in the ballon trip mode! If the game's controls were somewhat tighter, I'd probably have given it an 8, but it can be kind of a hinderance at times.

Gameplay:

This is clearly the best part of the game. The one and two player modes are pretty much the old Joust formula; pop the baddies' ballons, kill them when they hit the ground, repeat until all are dead. If you like Joust, you'll like that. Then there's also a mode called Balloon Trip, which is pretty good. Rather than competing against other Balloon Fighters, you have to do your best to fly through countless screens of obsticales. The goal in this is to get the highest score, because I don't think it ends until you screw up and die. My only gripe is that the control issues can be a major downer in both modes. They're perfectly fine other than that.

Overall, I'd say that Balloon Fight is worth checking out. I'd even recommend it over the NES rendition of Joust, because it's cheaper, and the ballon trip mode is pretty fun. Not one of NES's finest moments, but a good one nonetheless.